"Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism." - Carl Jung
I wanted to talk a bit about a very important realization I've had about how addictions can kill our productivity and rob us of our free will. Now, life isn't all about productivity, but productivity does reflect our ability to exercise free will and apply our clear minds in specific, purposeful ways.
You see, addictions have this sneaky way of stealing our focus. Instead of working on tasks that matter, especially those that don't immediately gratify our base desires — what I call appealing to our "lizard brain" — we find ourselves distracted, chasing after the very thing we're addicted to.
Think of your waking hours as a pool of time. Ideally, you'd want to spend as much of this time as possible doing things that might be challenging, that might even suck in comparison to the easy, immediate pleasures your lizard brain craves. Unfortunately, addictions shrink this pool.
Addictions eat away at the hours we could be using to exercise free will and make meaningful progress.
The range of addictions is broad, and many of them have a direct, tangible impact on our productivity. Some folks are addicted to unhealthy food which leaves them feeling sluggish and needing to nap constantly. Others are hooked on coffee and can't function without that regular caffeine hit. Still others may be addicted to porn or sex, which can be so consuming that every idle moment or passing attraction disrupts their ability to think about anything else.
As I've personally worked to eliminate my own addictions to things like alcohol, porn, and unhealthy foods, I've noticed a shift. I feel like I have more time where I'm thinking clearly. I often find myself surprised at how much I'm able to accomplish in a day without my mind constantly wandering off or being weighed down by my lizard brain's demands. It's liberating and empowering. I feel like I have more free time, even when I'm juggling multiple projects.
The point is, addictions can rob us of our capacity to be free agents in our own lives. Recognizing our addictions and actively working to overcome them is a powerful step towards becoming more alive, more fully human. Otherwise, we risk becoming mere slaves to our lowest impulses, our lives dictated by the dictates of our lizard brain. That's not what we as humans are meant to be, and it's certainly not conducive to achieving the greatest things we're capable of.
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)